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Cited by 212Religion and Society InteractionsReligion and Society in Latin AmericaReligious Freedom and Discrimination

Religion and Public Policy: Institutional, Cultural, and Political Impact on the Shaping of Abortion Policies in Western Democracies

MINKENBERG, MICHAEL·2002·Comparative Political Studies
DOI 10.1177/0010414002035002004
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Abstract

This article addresses the relationship between religion and politics in liberal democracies from a public policy angle. The analysis shows that contrary to the general secularization thesis, there is a visible religious impact on public policy, but it varies according to what measure of secularization is used. Confessional heritage (Catholicism versus Protestantism) and cultural values (levels of religiosity) are better predictors than institutional differentiation or political mobilization. When confessional heritage is held constant, the institutional impact increases. It is not surprising that Catholic countries produce less than fully liberal abortion policies, but the most restrictive abortion policies are found in those Catholic countries where high levels of religiosity persist. Moreover, a strong presence of religious parties is not associated with restrictive abortion policies, but in all countries with moderate to high levels of religiosity and with strong Christian Democratic parties and only there, moderate or “distress” models of abortion exist.

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49 of 49 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Party configurations that involve pro-European independent Christian democratic parties have a moderating effect on mainstream parties.

    “Party configurations that involve pro-European independent Christian democratic parties have a moderating effect on mainstream parties (Arzheimer and Carter 2009;Minkenberg 2002).”

    From Varieties of Illiberal Backlash in Central Europe (2023) · cites this paper as Minkenberg 2002

Cites

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1 of the 50 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 18

  1. Barbier, Maurice, 1995, La laïcité [Laicism]
  2. Beck, Ulrich, 1986, Risikogesellschaft. Auf dem Weg in eine andere Moderne [The risk society. On the way to another modernity]
  3. Bruce, Steve, 1999, Choice and religion
  4. Canas, Vitalino, 1995, Staat und Kirche in der Europäischen Union [State and church in the European Union], 281
  5. Dalton, Russell J., 1996, Citizen politics
  6. Eser, Albin, 1994, Schwangerschaftsabbruch: Auf dem verfassungsrechtlichen Prüfstand [Termination of pregnancy. A constitutional law test]
  7. Eser, Albin, 1988, Schwangerschaftsabbruch im internationalen Vergleich: Rechtliche Regelungen—Soziale Rahmenbedingungen—Empirische Grunddaten: Vol. 1. Europa [Termination of pregnancy in international comparison: Legal rules—social context—empirical data]
  8. Fischer Weltalmanach, 1999, Der Fischer Weltalmanach 2000 [The Fischer world almanac 2000]
  9. Katzenstein, Mary F., 1987, The women's movements of the United States and Western Europe
  10. Mavrogordatos, George, 28th Joint Session of Workshops of the European Consortium of Political Research
  11. Messner, Francis, 1999, Sectes et démocratie [Sects and democracy], 331
  12. Minkenberg, Michael, 1990, Neokonservatismus und Neue Rechte in den USA [Neoconservatism and the New Right in the United States]
  13. Münch, Richard, 1998, Globale Dynamik, lokale Lebenswelten. Der schwierige Weg in die Weltgesellschaft [Global dynamics, local life worlds. The difficult path toward the global society]
  14. Rucht, Dieter, 1994, Modernisierung und neue soziale Bewegungen: Deutschland, Frankreich und USA im Vergleich [Modernization and new social movements: Germany, France, and the USA in comparison]
  15. von Beyme, Klaus, 1984, Parteien in westlichen Demokratien [Political parties in Western democracies]
  16. Weber, Max, 1920, Gesammelte Aufsätze zur Religionssoziologie I [Collected essay on sociology of religion: Vol. 1]
  17. Weber, Max, 1974, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft [Economy and society]
  18. Zylberberg, Jacques, 1995, Pouvoirs, 75, 37

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Authors
MINKENBERG, M.
Affiliations
European University Viadrina (DE)
Corresponding author
MINKENBERG, MICHAEL
ORCID
MINKENBERG, MICHAEL
Venue
Comparative Political Studies
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2002-03
Volume
35
Issue
2
Pages
221-247
ISSN
  • 0010-4140 (ISSN-L)
  • 1552-3829
DOI
10.1177/0010414002035002004
OpenAlex
W2134216767
Semantic Scholar
ef2fb65f84b04df011093d50d6a6931731acb0bf
Cited by
212
References
50
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 9
FWCI
45.50
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • Comparative Political Studies (publishedVersion)
  • DigitalGeorgetown (Georgetown University Library) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Religion and Society Interactions
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Religion and Society in Latin America
  • Social Sciences › Law › Religious Freedom and Discrimination
Keywords
religion and politics, secularization, public policy, abortion policy, religiosity, Catholicism, Protestantism, religious parties, Christian democratic parties, liberal democracy

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